Serbia

Secession of Voivodina and Sanjak: The Only Response to Serbian Racism and Totalitarianism
Devastating HRW Report about Serbia, a medieval and rancorous realm of excruciating tyranny, merciless murder and unfathomable racism

HRW Report Recommendations for Serbia, Europe’s Most Totalitarian Territory
The inhabitants of Voivodina and Sanjak in their outright majority passionately desire the removal of the illegal Serbian settlers and the subsequent secession – liberation of their homelands from Serbia, the dictatorial realm of belligerent, rancorous and merciless administrations.

Serbian Xenophobia, Racism and Chauvinism Impose Secession and Independence for Voivodina, Sanjak
Unfortunately, the Voivodinians and the Sanjakis still live under Serbian racism and terrorism.

HRW Report Demonstrates Need for Voivodina and Sanjak to Secede from Totalitarian Serbia
Sanjak will be soon free and united, as the overwhelming majority of its population have always passionately desired.

Hateful Acts of Racism Performed by Serbs in Voivodina, Revealed in Devastating HRW Report
The inhabitants of Voivodina and Sanjak in their outright majority passionately desire the removal of the illegal Serbian settlers and the subsequent secession – liberation of their homelands from Serbia.

Tyrannized Voivodina and Sanjak Ready to Secede from Dangerous, Racist State Serbia
Voivodina and Sanjak are not proper Serbian territories but have been peremptorily given to Serbia because of French pro-Serbian favoritism back in the 1910s and 1920s.

Albanians and Muslims Still Targeted by Serbs in Occupied Voivodina and Sanjak – HRW Report
- Afghanistan is more European than Serbia, stupid! Should one tell to the evil diplomats of the Quai d’ Orsay.

Serbia War Crimes: Lukewarm Turnout at Mass Rally for Karadzic
15,000 Serb nationalists converge on Belgrade in an attempt to challenge the new pro-western government

Serbian Nationalists Confront Government Over Karadzic Extradition
Up to 100,000 expected to take part in pro-Karadzic protests to try to block handover of former leader of Bosnian Serbs

The Balkan Evasion
Peter Preston: Debates on the EU ignore what is crucial for peace and progress: to let the likes of Serbia in

Belgrade Under Pressure to Deliver General
After Radovan Karadzic's arrest, the heat is on Serbia to track down former army commander Ratko Mladic

Serbia: Radovan Karadzic Arrest Bolsters Pro-western President
Seizure of Bosnian Serb leader shows President Tadic is now in commanding position after May's election victory

Serbia: Remaining Hidden From Authorities Was Easy for Me, Karadzic Boasts
War crimes suspect attended conferences while in hiding and found separation from family the only difficult aspect

Warm Words From Eu As Leaders Welcome a Step Towards Justice
Capture of Radovan Karadzic is seen as great day for international justice and 'a major credit to Serbia'

Radovan Karadzic Arrest: Serbia Vows His Army Chief Will Be Next Held Over War Crimes
New era in relations between Serbia and the west beckons after surprise arrest of Bosnian genocide suspect

Arresting Developments for Serbia and the Eu?
Simon Tisdall: The capture of Radovan Karadzic will help, but the problems associated with the reintegration of Serbia into Europe remain formidable

Is Europe Ready for Serbia?
Simon Tisdall: The Balkans' problem child now has a fortified, peace-seeking democracy and stronger institutions – but will Brussels admit it?

Serbian Pro-europe Parties Near Power-sharing Deal
EU welcomes prospect of pro-European government in Belgrade

America's Failure: Russia and Serbia
Serbia (and its ally, Russia) are left with access to a corridor, through non-NATO Macedonia to anti-American Greece and to the sea.

Serbian Nationalists Aim to Block Pro-eu Government
Serbia's general election gives the president, Boris Tadic, an eight-point lead but nationalist parties could form majority coalition

Q&A: Serbian Elections
The background to the first parliamentary and local elections since Kosovo declared independence

Turkey and Sweden Seal Final Places With Nervous Victories
There were few surprises away from Wembley as Turkey, Sweden, Portugal and Serbia all made it to Euro 2008

Corrupt, Maneuvered, Expendable Balkans – Les Liaisons Dangereuses
The good English and French friends of Serbia: the epitome of irresponsibility, the embodiment of immorality, and the paragons of unproven argumentation, unjustified accusations, and baseless indictments.

Serbia Asks Un for Partitioning of Kosovo
Serbia formally proposes partitioning Kosovo along ethnic lines for the first time

Law Chief 'delaying Serbian Corruption Case'
Attorney general is using her powers to delay another major overseas corruption case, the Guardian has learned

Serbia in Crisis As Pm Quits Over Kosovo
The Serbian prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, dramatically resigned today, saying his government had collapsed over the issue of Kosovo's declaration of independence last month

Serbian Convoy Enters Kosovo Amid Fears Over Partition of New State
Serb resistance to Kosovo escalates as border posts are torched and a convoy of several hundred enters the state

The Historical Victory of Kosova
2008 Serbia will soon look like 1991 Yugoslavia, and Voivodina and Sanjak will be the next to secede.

Serbia Threatens to Recall Envoys From States Backing Independent Kosovo
Serbia signaled today it would withdraw ambassadors from countries that recognize an independent Kosovo but insisted it would retain diplomatic ties

Serbia Refuses to Accept Kosovo's Imminent Secession
Prime minister says he will not recognize 'puppet state' ahead of territory's expected declaration of independence

Serbia Appeals to Security Council As Kosovo Prepares to Go It Alone
As Kosovan independence looms Serbia calls for emergency meeting of the UN security council

Kosovo to Declare Independence, Serbia Claims
Kosovo is set to declare independence from Serbia next week, the Serbian government claimed today, amid fears that the move will trigger renewed instability in the region

Serbia's Pm Blocks Eu Pact in Protest Over Kosovo Declaration
Serbia's nationalist prime minister yesterday blocked the signing of a landmark pact between Belgrade and the EU in an attempt to delay the secession of Kosovo

Serbian Election Result Muddies Waters for Kosovo's Independence
Re-election of Boris Tadic as president of Serbia muddies waters for Kosovo's quest for independence

EU's Favoured Candidate Wins Serbia Poll
President Boris Tadic, a pro-western liberal, has won a renewed five-year term

'Undertaker' Close to Power in Serbia
A former cemeteries manager known as the undertaker stands his best chance of becoming head of state when Serbia votes tomorrow in a fateful presidential election.

'Undertaker' Has Serbia Within His Grasp
Tomorrow's presidential poll is too close to call· Fears of return to isolation if nationalist is elected

EU Offers Serbs Trade and Travel Deal Before Poll
European governments last night offered Serbia a trade and travel pact in an attempt to secure a victory for a pro-western democrat in this weekend's Serbian presidential election

Offer of Swift Serbian Entry Into Eu If It Lets Kosovo Break Away
European leaders are prepared to offer Serbia "accelerated" EU membership for accepting Kosovan independence, it was reported today

Kosovans Rally to Demand Independence From Serbia
About 3,000 Kosovans took part in a pro-independence rally in the capital, Pristina, today as their government vowed to break away permanently from Serbia early next year

Top Serbian Official Issues War Threat Over Kosovo
EU special envoy on Kosovo demands retraction of threat that Serbia could resort to war if the mostly ethnic Albanian province declares independence

How Far Will Russia Go in Defence of Serbia's Rights in Kosovo?
World Briefing: Exactly how far Russia will go in defence of Serbia's rights in Kosovo is a question of pressing importance, now UN security council negotiations to agree conditional independence for the breakaway province have ground to an ignominious halt, writes Simon Tisdall.

Serbia Attacks Us for Backing Kosovan Breakaway
Serbia today condemned US support for Kosovo's independence after George Bush expressed impatience with foot-dragging over the fate of the breakaway Serbian province.

Killers of Serbian Pm Zoran Djindjic Given 40 Years in Jail
The former commander of a notorious paramilitary unit was today convicted of assassinating Serbia's first democratically elected prime minister, Zoran Djindjic.

From Pariah State to Kitsch Victory: How a Balkan Ballad Showed Europe a New Serbia
Belgrade parties wildly after Eurovision triumph - So glad it was not some war song, admits TV chief

Serbian Alliance Blocks Radicals From Power
Serbia's pro-democratic parties have struck a deal to form a new government that would block the radical ultranationalists from power, Serbian media reported today.

Serbian Leaders Reach Agreement on Pro-western Coalition
EU promises membership talks after last-minute deal - Nationalist Kostunica to remain prime minister

Extreme Nationalist Elected Speaker of Serbian Parliament
Acting PM deserts alliance of democratic forces - Setback to EU hopes of pro-western government

Serbia's Chairmanship of the Council of Europe.
Serbia is taking up chairmanship of the Council of Europe. But why isn't anyone talking about human rights? By George Monbiot

Serbia Jails Death Squad Men for Srebrenica Killings
First Belgrade convictions for 1995 massacre - Defendants condemned by own video evidence

Serbia Cleared of Genocide
Serbia found guilty of failing to prevent the genocide of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica but cleared of state-sponsored genocide during the Bosnia conflict in the 1990s.

Serbia Condemned for Srebrenica Despite Acquittal on Genocide Charge
Country found not guilty in test case for world court - Damning verdict on state role in Bosnian massacre

Serbia Awaits Genocide Verdict From Un Court
The world court is to rule today on whether Serbia perpetrated genocide against Bosnia in the war of the mid-1990s.

UN Caught Between Serbian Hardliners and Albanian Separatists Over Kosovo's Push for Independence.
If it continues trying to appease everyone over Kosovo's push for independence the UN could end up helping no one, says Mark Tran.

Serbia Prepares for Coalition Tussle
Serbia's future within Europe today remained in the balance after an extreme nationalist party won the most votes in the country's general election.

Nationalists Triumph in Serbian Elections
Extreme nationalists led by a former warlord on trial for crimes against humanity romped to a comfortable victory yesterday in Serbia's most critical general election in years. But the Serbian Radical party's election triumph, six points ahead of their liberal pro-European rivals, left the extremists probably unable to cobble together a coalition government.

Serbia on Knife-edge in Decisive Election
Reaction to UN Kosovo plan in balance - US calls for people to reject isolation of nationalism

Integration or Isolation? Serbs Go to Polls With Rivals Neck and Neck
Serbia goes to the polls on Sunday for a crucial election that could return the pivotal Balkan state to nationalist instability or open up better prospects of integration with the EU and the west.

War Crimes Tribunal Orders Force-feeding of Serbian Warlord
The UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague last night ordered the force-feeding of a Serbian warlord and senior politician who has been on hunger strike in custody for almost a month.

Decision on Kosovan Independence to Be Postponed
· Delay prompted by fears over Serbian nationalism · Proposal to be announced after Belgrade elections

Serbia Snubs Un With Vote to Keep Kosovo
Serbia set itself against the international community and Kosovo's ethnic Albanians yesterday by endorsing a new constitution declaring Kosovo for ever part of Serbia, only a few months before it is expected to lose the province.

Serb Move May Trigger New War
The prime minister of the Serbian half of Bosnia has called for a referendum enabling the Serbs of Bosnia to secede, an act that could trigger a new war and spell the end of the state of Bosnia.

Serbia and Kosovo in Independence Talks
For the first time since the conflict eight years ago, the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo sat down together today in an attempt to hammer out a settlement for the disputed southern Balkan province.

Serbs at Low Ebb As They Mark Loss to Turks
On the grimmest day in the Serbian calendar, Dejan recalled today the epic defeat more than 600 years ago as freshly as if it occurred within the 25-year-old's living memory.

Serbia Not All There for Holland Game
Soccer: World Cup: Serbia & Montenegro go into their clash with Holland a player short after Dusan Petkovic sensationally walked out of the squad.

Europe's Newest State Wins Seal of Approval From Poll Monitors
· Montenegro celebrates despite Serbian protests · Solana dampens down ambition to join EU

Montenegro Confirms Independence
Montenegro's state electoral commission today confirmed the republic would split from Serbia and establish a new independent Balkan state.

Montenegro Vote Finally Seals Death of Yugoslavia
· 56% opt for independence amid huge turnout · Tensions high as leader of pro-Serbia camp cries foul

Serbia Cannot Escape Curse of Mladic
If Montenegro were to vote to secede from Serbia at the weekend and finally screw down the coffin lid on the corpse of Yugoslavia, General Ratko Mladic would be an apt choice as pallbearer and gravedigger-in-chief. By Simon Tisdall

EU Punishes Serbia for Mladic's Freedom
· Accession talks cancelled over PM's failure to act · Government on brink of collapse as deputy quits

EU Halts Serbia Entry Talks Over Mladic
The European Union today broke off talks on EU membership for Serbia and Montenegro over Belgrade's failure to deliver the Bosnian Serb military leader Ratklo Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

EU Tells Serbia: No Mladic, No Entry
The European Union today suspended membership talks with Serbia over its failure to deliver the Bosnian Serb military leader Ratklo Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Mladic is the UN tribunal's second most wanted war crimes suspect from the Yugoslav wars after Radovan...

'Serbians Will Use This to Revive Their Sense of Victimhood'
In Kosovo, the scene of Slobodan Milosevic's most recent atrocities, Albanians reacted yesterday with anger and annoyance to the former leader's death.

Serbian War Criminal Kills Himself in Hague Prison
Milan Babic, a central figure in the early stages of the Serbian wars against the rest of Yugoslavia, killed himself at the weekend while detained at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Montenegro Fights to Change Rules for Independence Vote
· EU says referendum needs 55% majority to be valid · Serbian nationalists warn of war if split approved

To Brussels ... Via The Hague
The fate of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general wanted for war crimes, will determine Serbia's future in Europe, writes Ian Black.

EU Delivers Ultimatum on Mladic's Arrest to Serbia
The EU threatened to call off talks with Serbia yesterday unless the genocide suspect General Ratko Mladic was arrested and sent to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague for trial.

EU Warns Serbia Over Mladic
Serbia's EU entry negotiations will be halted unless it fully cooperates with attempts to bring the fugitive war leader General Ratko Mladic to justice, the European commission's head of enlargement warned today.

Crunch Time for Serbia in Hunt for Mladic
· Genocide suspect still at large, says UN prosecutor · Belgrade faces crucial choices as pressure grows.

Serbian General Still 'at Large'
The chief UN war crimes prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, said today that the Serbian General Ratko Mladic "remains at large".

Arrest Would Boost Serbia's Standing
Mladic's capture, if confirmed, would provide a fillip at a crucial juncture, writes Simon Tisdall.

Serbia Threatens to Resist Kosovo Independence Plan
· Talks start today but could reach deadlock· International community may impose solution

Serbian Officials Close in on Key Massacre Suspect
The arrest of a Bosnian Serb military commander indicted for the 1993 massacre at Srebrenica "has never been closer", it was claimed today. A Serbian security official told the Associated Press that police had intercepted a call from Ratko Mladic, the second most wanted war crimes suspect...

Ashdown Orders New Crackdown in Bosnia
Nine sacked as governor targets Serbian war crimes suspects.

Battle Over the Bridge of Lost Souls
Serbian authorities accused of neglect as monument to massacre of Muslims during war in Bosnia crumbles.

Serbian President's Car Rammed
A vehicle carrying Serbia's president, Boris Tadic, was repeatedly rammed by a car while travelling through Belgrade, his office said yesterday.

Serbia Accused of Blocking War Crimes Trials
British defence officials have conceded that military action to bring Serb and Croat war crimes suspects to trial would probably fail because of the sophisticated support network surrounding them.

'We Can't Forget'
Twelve years ago, Ed Vulliamy first revealed the horrors of Omarska, a Serbian concentration camp in Bosnia, to a stunned world. This summer the survivors returned to the place where they were tortured and raped, their friends and families murdered. He joined them.

Serbian Reformers Toast Victory
A reformist keen on improving relations with the EU and the US was poised last night to become president of Serbia after defeating an ultra-nationalist supporter of Slobodan Milosevic. Boris Tadic, the former defence minister, took 53.5% of the vote, to 45% for Tomislav Nikolic of the...

Serbians Offered Choice Between Past and Future
After 18 months with no head of state Serbia faces a crucial choice tomorrow at the presidential elections, a ballot seen as the country's most important since Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown four years ago. In what is being billed as a choice between the past and the future, Tomislav...

Hardliner Looks Set to Win Poll in Serbia
After 18 months without a head of state, Serbia looks likely to back an extreme nationalist to be president in tomorrow's first-round vote. Tomislav Nikolic, a former undertaker who campaigns for the Greater Serbia project that brought the country four lost wars under Slobodan Milosevic,...

Brazilians capture men's Serbia & Montenegro FIVB Open
After two events of "cashing" second-place checks, top-seeded Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos regained their gold medal form on Sunday (May 30) in capturing the $180,000 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour event for the second title of the 2004 international season.

War Crimes Trial Begins in Serbia
The watershed war crimes trial of six men accused of the massacre of 192 Croatian prisoners of war today opened in a court in Serbia. The case is the first of its kind to be heard in the country since the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague allowed war crimes suspects to face trial in the...

Nationalist Serb Pm Risks Isolation Abroad
Serbia appeared to be heading for renewed international isolation last night.

Karadzic 'has Safe Haven' in Belgrade
Serbia sheltering 15 war crimes suspects, says Hague prosecutor.

Serb Chief Says Sorry to Croats
Serbian rebel leader from the early stages of the 90s wars in the former Yugoslavia is convicted of ethnic persecution after delivering unprecedented apology to his "brother Croats".

Serb Democrats Urged to Join Forces
Serbia's riven reformist parties were under strong international pressure yesterday to bury their rivalries and agree on a new coalition to try to banish the threat from extremists who emerged strongest from the general election. Stunned by the triumph of the extremist Serbian Radical...

Serbian Election Victory for War Crimes Suspect's Party
Nationalist extremists led by a suspected war criminal in custody in The Hague scored a clear victory in general elections in Serbia yesterday, dealing a huge setback to the prospects for stable democracy and western-oriented policy in the Balkan state. The Serbian Radical party led by...

Soldiers and Mafia on Trial Over Serbian Leader's Murder
More than 20 figures from the Serbian underworld and from the state's former elite commando unit appeared in a high-security courtroom in Belgrade yesterday charged with involvement in the assassination of the prime minister, Zoran Djindjic. In what was being billed as the biggest test of...

Serb Leader Says Sorry to Bosnia
Eight years after a war that left more than 200,000 Bosnians dead and 2 million driven from their homes, a Serbian leader visited the Bosnian capital yesterday and for the first time said sorry. Svetozar Marovic, president of the loose union of Serbia and Montenegro, admitted that the...

Kickback claims hit Italian left
Pressure was growing on leaders of the Italian left yesterday over allegations that they took massive kickbacks when Telecom Italia bought a chunk of Telekom Serbia during Slobodan Milosevic's rule.

Atrocity at Bistrica Beach
A gunman's brutal attack on a group of Serbian children swimming in a Kosovan river has plunged the troubled region into further crisis, writes Ian Traynor.

In cold blood
In March 1999, Serbian paramilitaries gunned down 19 women and children in the Kosovan town of Podujevo in a brutal act of ethnic cleansing. Amazingly, five children survived. This week, four of them left their new home in Manchester and travelled to Belgrade to testify against one of the men who is accused of trying to kill them.

Two Kostunica aides held over Serbian PM's assassination
Senior security aides of Yugoslavia's former president Vojislav Kostunica have been arrested in connection with the assassination of the Serbian prime minister, Zoran Djindjic.

Body of Ex-serb President Found
Slobodan Milosevic, the former leader of Yugoslavia, is to be questioned about the murder of a former president of Serbia, whose body was discovered yesterday, three years after he went missing, authorities in Belgrade announced. Ivan Stambolic's body was found in a grave on a mountain in...

Man Held for Murder of Serbian Leader
Serbian police have arrested the suspected assassin of Zoran Djindjic, the pro-western prime minister who was killed two weeks ago, his successor said yesterday. Zoran Zivkovic named the suspect as Zvezdan Jovanovic, 38, a Kosovan Serb and the deputy commander of the Red Berets, a...

Milosevic Ally Pleads Not Guilty at Hague
A Serbian ultra-nationalist and former ally of Slobodan Milosevic today pleaded not guilty to ethnic cleansing during the Balkan wars of the early 1990s. Vojislav Seselj, 48, is accused of directing paramilitary troops who allegedly murdered and tortured non-Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia and...

Reformer Succeeds Murdered Serbian Pm
Serbia moved swiftly yesterday to fill the political vacuum left by the assassination of the prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, as his party nominated the former interior minister, Zoran Zivkovic, to replace him. A youthful democracy activist with a 10-year pedigree as a firm opponent of...

Focus: Death of a Balkan Hero
Serbia's mafia warlords showed they will stop at nothing to protect their criminal empire when they assassinated Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic - burying the country's best chance of escaping from the dark age of Milosevic. Report by Ian Traynor in Zagreb and Dejan Anastasijevic in Belgrade.

Serbia Remembers Murdered Pm
Hundreds of thousands of mourners marched today behind the cortege carrying the coffin of the assassinated Serbian prime minister through the streets where he once led protesters who helped topple former president Slobodan Milosevic. Earlier, tens of thousands gathered at the largest...

Gang Bosses Elude Hunt for Killers of Serbian Pm
As the Serbian authorities were announcing yesterday that they had rounded up some 200 people in connection with the assassination of the prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, there was little sign of life at the green-roofed mansion on Silerova Street. A cobbled lane running between one-storey...

How the West Killed Djindjic
The West killed Serbia's Prime Minister since January 2001, Zoran Djindjic. By forcing him, at times against his better judgment, to surrender one more war criminal, to pursue yet another mobster, to eliminate the remaining subsidies that rendered tolerable the drab and destitute lives of Serbs - the West cast Djindjic as its lackey.

Zoran Djindjic
The murder in Belgrade of the Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic has deprived Serbia of its most capable and daring politician. His tireless organisational skills proved absolutely critical at the high point of his career, when the Democratic Opposition of Serbia reform alliance mobilised millions of people to topple the former dictator, Slobodan Milosevic, in October 2000.

Gang members arrested after Serbian assassination
Police in Serbia today arrested several members of a shadowy underworld network accused of assassinating Zoran Djindjic, the country's reformist prime minister, and plunging the Balkans into renewed crisis.

Serbian leader assassinated
Two assassins gunned down the Serbian prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, in broad daylight in the centre of Belgrade yesterday, leaving Serbia leaderless and plunging the Balkans into a bleak and dangerous period of uncertainty.

Murder shows warlords still rule in Serbia
The two sniper bullets which killed Zoran Djindjic at lunchtime in Belgrade yesterday cut down a politician who had just begun to exercise power after a couple of decades of opposition, jail, exile, and power struggles.

Serbian Prime Minister Gunned Down in Street
Serbia was under a state of emergency last night after the assassination of its reformist prime minister Zoran Djindjic plunged the Balkans into renewed crisis. A government statement blamed his murder on organised criminals trying to to avert a clampdown on their activities and throw the...

Serbian Pm Shot Dead
· Zoran Djindjic killed in Belgrade
· Two held after shooting

Milosevic's wife to be tried in Belgrade for abuse of office
Mirjana Markovic, the wife of the former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, is to go on trial next week in Belgrade charged with abuse of office. She will be tried with several Milosevic cronies who presided over rampant corruption and embezzlement in the 1990s.

'War Criminals' Blamed for Attack on Serbia's Pm
Former paramilitaries from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s are suspected of Friday's attempt on the life of the Serbian prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, who narrowly escaped death when a lorry apparently tried to crash into his motorcade. A similarly staged attempt on the life of the...

Memories of Happier Days
Days after the name Yugoslavia was dropped by Serbia and Montenegro, the nostalgia industry is in full swing, writes Ian Traynor.

Serbian Leader Surrenders to Hague Tribunal
The Hague war crimes tribunal netted one of its biggest fish yet yesterday when the former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic surrendered himself for trial. Mr Milutinovic, charged with war crimes committed during the Serb crackdown in Kosovo in 1999, flew to the the Hague voluntarily...

Ex-Serbian President to Appear at Un Tribunal
Former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic today flew to the Netherlands to surrender to the UN tribunal in the Hague, where he faces charges of war crimes in Kosovo. Mr Milutinovic, who was Serbia's president from 1997 until last month, has denied he had any control over Serb-led...

Hurd's Telecom Privatisation Unravels
A controversial privatisation arranged by the sometime British foreign secretary Lord Hurd with Slobodan Milosevic unravelled yesterday when the Serbian government said it was buying back a hefty share of its national telecommunications network from Italy.

Retiring Serb Leader Faces Tribunal
Indicted war criminal's immunity ends. The Serbian president and alleged war criminal Milan Milutinovic came under pressure yesterday to join his former boss Slobodan Milosevic in the Dutch detention cells of the international war crimes tribunal in the Hague.

Serbia Heads for Third Invalid Election Result
Bitter weather and bickering keep voters from polls.

Disillusion and Extremism Mar Serbian Election
The nationalist vote may put Kostunica back in power if a low turnout does not invalidate the poll.

Milosevic Tried to Build Greater Serbia, Trial Told
Slobodan Milosevic wanted to carve a "Greater Serbia" out of the ruins of Yugoslavia, the first head of state to testify at the Hague war crimes tribunal said yesterday. Stipe Mesic, the president of Croatia, took over the rotating Yugoslav presidency in July 1991 shortly before Tito's...

Apathy clouds Serbian election
The moderate nationalist Vojislav Kostunica and the western-backed economist Miroljub Labus will face each other in a run-off for the Serbian presidency later this month, but it is feared that apathy could invalidate the election and plunge the country into a constitutional crisis.

Poll Puts Serbs in Line for Power Play
Serbs went to the polls yesterday for the first presidential election since the indicted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic was toppled two years ago. But far from bringing order to the post-Milosevic mess of politics in Serbia, the election is likely to intensify the struggle between the...

Hurd faces questions on Serbian deal
Italian prosecutors investigating allegations of bribery and embezzlement relating to the privatisation of Serbia's telephone network want to question Lord Hurd, the former Tory Foreign Secretary.

'Serbia has betrayed my father'
As Milosevic is tried for war crimes, the devoted daughter who fired shots on his arrest tells how she is rebuilding her life.

UK targeted in Serb inquiry
Italian investigation into Telekom privatisation puts NatWest Markets in spotlight. Italian fraud investigators looking into allegations of corruption over the part-privatisation of Serbia's telephone monopoly under the Milosevic regime have turned their attention to the UK.

Yugoslavia votes for its own abolition
The Yugoslav parliament yesterday voted to abolish the Balkan federation and replace it with a looser union between its last remaining members, Serbia and Montenegro. The new state is due to be formed by the end of the year.

Serbian War Crimes Suspect Shoots Himself
Serbia's police chief during the Kosovo campaign was fighting for his life last night after attempting suicide in front of the federal parliament building in Belgrade hours after MPs had adopted a law allowing the extradition of war crimes suspects to the UN tribunal in the Hague. Vlajko...

Serbia Offers to Arrest President
Serbia issued arrest warrants yesterday for its president, Milan Milutinovic, and three other former aides to Slobodan Milosevic, hours before the US deadline for it to cooperate with the Hague war crimes tribunal or forfeit $120m in aid. The justice minister, Vladan Batic, said it was up...

Serbia and Montenegro in New Union
Europe was celebrating a rare success in the Balkans last night after brokering a new union between Serbia and Montenegro to replace federal Yugoslavia and avoid another war in the continent's troubled south-eastern corner. "We have taken an important step forward for the stability of the...

A nation in denial
Timothy Garton Ash argues that we need a Serbian soap opera as well as the Slobo v Carla show.

Montenegro to Drop Aim of Independence
Montenegro's president, Milo Djukanovic, is on the verge of abandoning his dream of independence after heavy pressure from the European Union, including the threat of cuts in aid. The republic will remain in a federation with Serbia and take turns to occupy a single seat at the United...

Serb Offer of Bail Help Fails to Entice Trial Suspects to Surrender
The Serbian government is offering to help a group of senior officials who were indicted with Slobodan Milosevic get bail from the Hague, provided they surrender voluntarily.

The "Black Hand"
A self-appointed "guardian of all Serbs", the Serbian state willingly engaged in agitation and confronted both other ethnicities and the Dual Monarchy in its quest to safeguard the well-being, welfare, prosperity and equal treatment of the Serbs, all noble goals, no doubt.